Seven Veils
So much had happened in a short time to Judy Hopps. Even though she was still the same rabbit the city knew and loved, her life had changed ever since she had started belly dancing as a hobby. She had become so fond of her new hobby that it had eventually become her career after leaving the ZPD and marrying her beloved Nick Wilde. Judy was the biggest professional at that art form at the moment. She was now as big as a star as Gazelle, with her dance instructor Carmelita now being her manager. Judy had even bought a new apartment form Sahara Square for her and Nick to live in, and performed in the biggest events in all of Zootopia. Most of the citizens absolutely loved her, both prey and predator alike. Nick especially was there to see all her performances, and some male mammals were a bit jealous of him too. Her glamorous beauty, talent and sex appeal were not the only reasons why the public adored her. Judy showed her caring side even in this career: she always participated in charity events, and always expressed her concern for social problems like how Gazelle did during the savage crisis. And much like Gazelle, most male mammals had a bit of a crush on her, while the female ones saw her as a great role model. Still, Judy wanted to spice things up a bit in her shows. One day, she was hanging out with her cousin Lola at a café in downtown. Wearing her traditional city outfit consisting of a teal shirt and black pants, she sat next to the other rabbit and enjoyed her Snarlbucks coffee along with a carrot cocoa donut. “So, how is it going with your new career there, Judy?” Lola asked. “It´s fine. My teacher and current manager Carmelita let me recently perform in a couple of commercials and I got to be in the cover of a local magazine. It all pays off, but I can´t help but feel something´s missing. I´d love to share my talent with somebody”, Judy told. “Well I haven´t been having any new basketball games recently, frankly I´m getting a bit bored of it. I want to try out something different. Do you need help in something? I´m your cousin, you can tell me anything”, Lola told. “I haven´t any problems if that’s what you meant. Everything is still going wonderful with my Nick, and he´s looking forward to my next dances. However, I feel like I´d want somebody to perform with me. Like how Gazelle has those tigers, I would love to train somebody to dance and join me….that´s it!” Judy realized something, almost dropping her donut. “What is it?” Lola wondered. “I´m getting a few back-up dancers and starting a troupe! Carmelita would love to see me pass on everything she taught me to other fair young mammals, and I´d have my own group to lead under her management!” Judy decided. “That sounds wonderful! You know…since I mentioned that I´m not into basketball anymore, can I join the troupe too if you train me?” Lola expressed her interest. She always had wanted to try out belly dancing too. “Of course, my dear cousin. I´ll let Nick know too, he´ll probably be on board with the idea too. We´ll get the best of the best to join my group”, Judy smiled eagerly. Lola nodded. She couldn´t wait to see where Judy´s plan would lead them. Soon, Judy had expressed her plan to Carmelita back at her place. Nick had come to listen too. “It sounds great, Judy! My best student´s getting to teach someone else, you´re making me so proud!” she almost hugged her. “My dear Judy is the queen of belly dancers. Nobody else would be as great of a troupe leader as she is”, Nick patted her on the back. “I would love to have the best of the best in the business to join my group. Do you have any you could recommend besides me and my cousin Lola?” Judy asked. “Well… Krystal and Marian seemed to be in good terms with you when you met them for the first time. Maybe they´d love to join forces with you”, Carmelita explained. Those two vixens were among her best previous pupils. Judy had met and befriended them some time ago, although she hadn´t met them in a long time. “They are more than welcome to join. Are there any who aren´t trained yet but aren´t interested?” Judy wondered. “Well… I did check the CVs of several female mammals in Zootopia and found three more. A variety veteran mink who´s looking for new work, a film star cat from Rainforest Square who has shown interest, and even the finest mouse model of Little Rodentia showed some too”, Carmelita showed photos of her candidates. “I say we take them all. I can´t wait to train them and have some performing by my side”, Judy was excited. “Seven fair dancers on the stage. Like seven veils. So be it”, Carmelita smiled. “I hope they´ll all learn well and get along with me”, Judy thought. “Of course they will. You have always been great leader material since your cop days. If I were female, I´d be most honored to share the stage with someone like you”, Nick encouraged his wife. “You´re already an idol in this city, and with your stage charisma, this will all work out wonderfully. Your legacy will only get stronger, and others can happily say how you inspired them”, Carmelita added. “Thanks for your kind support. I´ll do my best”, Judy hugged her manager and kissed her husband. “Way to go, bun bun!” Nick said. Judy was ready to meet her future back-up dancers soon. After a week, Judy had invited all the new candidates to the same dance studio where Carmelita had given her lessons. The latter´s former two vixen students were among the first to show up besides Lola. “Well look at you, little carrot. I remember when you were just a student, and now you´re a dancing queen. Way to go", Marian gave Judy the thumbs up. “Not bad for Carmelita´s first bunny in a branch dominated by vixens. We´re pleased to become your back-up dancers", Krystal shook paws with Judy. “Pleased to have you by my side too. No wonder Carmelita praised you two”, Judy smiled. The two vixens were more than enthusiastic about returning to belly dancing and meeting their colleague again. The two sat on a bench with Lola, who was waiting for the other mammals to arrive. Judy had put on her familiar exercise gear already, which she used in her training and even in her police academy days. She couldn´t wait to teach the most beautiful female mammals in Zootopia what Carmelita had taught her back then. It didn´t take long until the last three arrived and introduced themselves to Judy. “It´s wonderful that you´ve called us, Hopps. I haven´t had work on stage for too long”, Minerva, a white mink lady said. “We heard about your proposition and it grabbed our interest”, Sawyer, a wild cat who lived in Rainforest district said. “It´s an honor to study under the heroine of the city”, a small mouse named Miss Bianca added. “Good to hear that, and great to see that you´re all here. We can begin soon”, Judy was excited. All the candidates seemed very motivated and interested in dancing under her wing and they all seemed like such pleasant people. The rabbit could already see them not only become her backup dancers, but close friends too. There was a lot of variety in the group. Both prey and predators, and from different jobs. But they all were great potential for Judy´s new troupe. At first Judy had been slightly uncertain of her new idea, but seeing what her group was like made her lose her doubt eventually. She was in the right company. It was time to start. Her six students got in line as she started training them. The star of Sahara Square had rehearsed everything Carmelita had taught her during her first lessons, and was now doing the same thing to the rest of the troupe. From shimmies to hip bumps and all sorts of gyrations, the other animals repeated after her. Marian and Krystal were just as great as they were during their previous lessons, and the other four were learning fast too. “That bunny´s got the moves. I can see why she became the pro in the business”, Sawyer tried some hip lifts. “Keep up the good work! You´re doing great!” Judy told her. As they took a break from their first big session, Judy saw that something was wrong. Being the smallest in the group, Miss Bianca looked a bit exhausted and uncertain. “What´s wrong?” Judy went to ask her. “I don´t know if I´m good enough for this. I´m too small and I have trouble keeping up”, the mouse said. Judy smiled warmly to Miss Bianca. “Of course you are good enough. Even if you are the smallest of us, you can still be just as good as the rest of us if you try hard enough. I´m sure there´s an excellent dancer in you waiting to break out, just keep trying your best and believe in yourself. That always helps in anything, believe me. That was what helped me become a respected policewoman and ending up together with my husband Nick after all. In Zootopia, anyone can be anything”, she encouraged the mouse in an almost big sister-like way. The rest of the group was pleased. Judy was a tough and assertive leader to the troupe just like she was as a cop, but also sweeter than a honey carrot cake. That was definitely the type of person Lola, Marian and the rest wanted to follow. “Thanks for the kind words, ma´am”, Bianca answered and tried again. Soon, she learned to do much better and was on the same level as the others were. “She surely knows how to motivate, doesn´t she?” Minerva asked Sawyer. “Better than I expected”, the cat nodded. After they took a short coffee break, Judy started training the harder moves to them. If somebody had a hard time with them, she showed them the same encouragement as she did with the mouse. This made them respect her even more and more. Soon their first day studying belly dancing was over. In next weeks, the animals would meet Judy again and kept on with their training. The process kept getting better and better as the dancers were getting really skilled. Judy felt proud about her students. All six of them were worthy of being her backup dancers. It was very rewarding to see a new direction in her career going forward successfully. As time went on, the dancers eventually finished the courses. The troupe was ready. Judy and Carmelita were at the studio, congratulating the students and handing them their diplomas. “Congratulations! You are all now professional belly dancers, and part of my troupe”, Judy said as they all applauded. “The troupe needs a new name now that we´re starting. How about Seven Veils?” Carmelita suggested. “Sounds good”, Judy nodded. Carmelita went and handed each mammal of the group a brand new dancer outfit similar to the one she used as a trainer. It included silky harem pants, a coin-trimmed bra top that revealed enough of the midriff, a transparent face veil, a hip scarf, fitting slippers and lots of jewelry. Everyone had the outfit in a different color: Judy had red like her previous outfit while Marian had pink, Bianca had purple, Krystal had blue, Lola had golden and both Sawyer and Minerva wore green. Judy also had a golden headband with beads to symbolize that she was the troupe leader. The mammals all tried their outfits on, and they fit perfectly. “You all look so beautiful, like real dancers. Soon we´ll get to perform for a real audience at the stadium. Everyone in the city will be seeing our troupe together for the first time, from Lionheart to Gazelle and even my parents”, Judy told. Nick was going to be in the crowd too. Judy hoped that she would manage to impress her husband again, since she hadn´t done it in a group like this before his eyes. He always had a front row seat when she danced somewhere, putting all of her skill and heart into it. Now she was about to do it again, and didn´t want to disappoint. “The performance will be next week, so be ready. The entire city deserves to see you lovely ladies together”, the vixen manager encouraged Judy and her backup dancers. “See you then!” Marian said as they went home. The first performance of the Seven Veils was coming. The entire stadium was packed like crazy as the day had come. It was almost as crowded as Gazelle´s concerts. Lionheart, Gazelle and even Mr Big had gotten all the VIP seats on the stadium, but lots of friends and associates of the dancers had the rest of the front row seats. Nick of course was among them. He, Finnick and Gideon had come to see the dance together. The foxes came out of a taxi outside the stadium driven by the hippo Murray, all three of them in their formal wear. “It´s a good thing we got these before they were sold out”, Gideon said as they sat down. “Of course we had to do. Nick always picks these when Judy´s dancing, and always looks like he´s seen an angel every time she´s on stage”, Finnick laughed. “Well she IS the most beautiful dancer in the city and my dear wife, can you really blame me?” Nick smiled. He couldn´t wait to see Judy prove herself with her students. “Sssh! Quiet, it´s starting!” Bogo said from the next seat where he was with Clawhauser. The lights were set on the stage. It was time. What a marvelous sight it was as the dancers entered the stage. It wasn´t as flashy as Judy´s usual dances, but a lot more elegant and sensual. The rabbit danced on the center stage while Marian, Lola, Miss Bianca, Krystal, Sawyer and Minerva did their jobs as the backup dancers splendidly. The music had a classical Arabian feeling to it, which strengthened the atmosphere. All the mammals were almost perfectly in tune with it during the dance. "Ain´t those girls quite the lookers", Finnick was smitten by almost the entire troupe, admiring the movements of their hips and bellies. "It´s so wonderful to see music and dance like this that brings the prey and predator together", Lionheart commented at his box. "You´re right, Boss", his bodyguards Larry and Gary nodded. "Make sure you record the whole show, capisce? The rewatch value of such fine art shall not go unnoticed", Mr Big reminded Manchas who was recording the show with his phone. "You truly have some mad talent in your troupe, Judy", Gazelle was impressed too. As much as he thought the other dancers were great, Nick was still having the time of his life again watching Judy on stage. She was still as unbeatable as always as a belly dancer. The voluptuous young rabbit was like made for this. And she always looked so happy whenever she danced, so it truly was her calling indeed. "You´ve outdone yourself again, Carrots", Nick couldn´t take his eyes off the stage as Judy did her best chest undulations. As always, Judy noticed the admiring gaze of her husband in the audience, and couldn´t resist blowing a subtle little kiss in his direction. The fox felt like the luckiest mammal in the universe every time she did that in public. The applause after the dance ended was tremendous. This was one of the greatest dance troupes Zootopia had ever seen. After the dance had ended, the backstage was full of mammals asking for autographs from all the girls. Finnick especially got one from everybody. "If you are in need of company, I´m free next Saturday at ten o´clock", Finnick straightened his tie while talking to Minerva. "Oh, aren´t you just adorable", she giggled. "Well, look who was the star of the night yet again. That was wonderful", Nick said as she escorted Judy back towards her locker room. "Oh, it was nothing. I owe thanks to my fellow backup dancers too. They deserve all the spotlight they´ve received now", Judy said. "Well thanks to you too. Without you we wouldn´t be in where we are now", Krystal said as she was giving an autograph to a fox kit. "The way you led the dance group with different personalities, showing your beauty and talent to the entire city whether they´re predator or prey...wow. You truly have deserved your place as the belly dancing queen of Zootopia", Nick held Judy by the paw. "Thanks, my darling", Judy looked coyly at her husband. His unconditional love and respect for her was the one thing that always warmed her heart no matter what the circumstances were. "How about we go celebrate your victory to the local ice cream parlor? I heard they have carrot cake milkshakes there?" Nick leaned closer to Judy, making her blush. The other dancers noticed this and smiled. "Of course, but you deserve something more sweeter than that", Judy wrapped her paws around the fox´s neck and kissed him on the lips. "Those two are so lovely together", Marian was delighted. What a glorious night had it been for the Princess of Burrows. She had impressed the entire city yet again, but gained new friends in the process. Her backup dancers were happy about this too. Judy was still at the top of her career, and showed no signs of slowing down at all. She and her colleagues were here to stay. Category:Ara-Bunny Nights AU Category:Stories inspired by 1,001 Nights Category:AU Fanfics Category:What if-scenarios Category:NickXJudy Category:WildeHopps stories Category:Nick and Judy's married years Category:Crossover stories